Thank you for stopping by The Community Organic Co-op Organization. This was just something I took a beautiful Sunday afternoon to create. Why? I felt led to do something, regardless of how minute, in an effort to even just get people thinking about living life a little more green. The site will feature articles, blogs, projects, programs, and more, related to all things green and moving toward a life of living off the grid and self sustainable. We need to move towards positive changes now. It only takes one or two to begin a movement. If you like the idea of spending less to spending zero on your electric, fruits & veggies, and possibly even making money in the process, then join me in my journey to help my community “Get ‘Er Green!”

I don’t know about you, but the fluctuating gas prices have me really looking at my hybrid options when it comes to vehicles. They’ve also got me looking at what’s being done to make further advances. So what’s going on with the development of other viable biofuel options? Here’s what the website A Question of Balance had to say…

In the past biodiesel products have been seen as waste but a change in demand, as well as human thinking about fuels in general, has seen the prices for biodiesel products skyrocket. Used cooking oil that once fetched about $300 a ton now sells for around $800 a ton. Edible tallow that fetched about $400 a ton now sells for $1000.

The demand for energy is increasing at such a rate that second class oils are now being used as first class oils, and attracting comparable prices. The high base cost of these oils means that they find it difficult to be produced in a profitable way. Tallow for instance, at a base cost of $1 a litre competes with a product such as petroleum diesel that sells for about $1.40. Given what has to be done to the tallow to produce a biofuel, there is not much room for profitability. In fact the two largest Australian companies (Australian Biodiesel Group and Australian Renewable Fuels) have ceased production until there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Despite the capacity to produce 100 million litres of biofuels there is only an annual demand for 20 million litres, certainly not enough to achieve the benefits of large scale production.

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